Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango

On summer nights Marisol helps out in Papi's music store. As customers come and go, they share memories of the Latin music and dance of their various homelands, expressed in a dazzling array of poetry. The diversity of Latin American music is brought to life in poems that swivel, sway, and sizzle with the rhythms of merengue, vallenatos, salsa, and samba.

Back matter includes a map, author's note, and further information about the musical heritage of Latin America.

Julia Durango is the author of Dream Hop, Cha-Cha Chimps, Angels Watching Over Me, and Pest Fest. Her first novel, The Walls of Cartagena, came out last year. She lives with her two sons in Ottawa, Illinois.

Publishers Weekly

In understated verse, a girl named Marisol explores the role that music plays in her Latino community, introducing the people who visit her father's music store ("Papi says you can/ read people's souls/ by the music/ they listen to").